Iowa's best 2x champ?
- Thread starter TarpHawk1
- Start date
My personal favorite is Metcalf, but from an objective point of view, it's probably one of Chris Campbell, Randy Lewis, or Terry Brands. I was not watching as back when these guys were active competitors so I'm mostly basing this off results against contemporaries.
Gotta be Lewboo! Point scoring machine!
My write in candidate is Mark Perry - two time champ, a second and a third. Hard to argue with that.
I refuse to participate as you left off Mark Perry. 2-3-1-1 should have put him on this list.
(Kidding...I voted.)
It's a long list, he did a pretty good job.That some of you jokers ranked Metcalf over Ironside, Perry, or Terry Brands means you don't know squat.
Tarp, you left Mark Perry off. What were you thinking? This isn't Miss Congeniality.
I’d put Eric Juergens on that list.
Very hard to pick one, an argument could be made for several of them and a couple not on the list. I believe there are abtotal of 14 two timers
Metcalf, 108-3. Two titles in 3 years. Easily the best record out of these guys. Some absolute studs on this list but 3 losses says it all. He also won one of the all time greatest brackets.
I mean 108-3 while losing a year in which he'd have likely won a title, and avenging the loss to Palmer in the ncaa finals... he certainly deserves to be in the conversation.That some of you jokers ranked Metcalf over Ironside, Perry, or Terry Brands means you don't know squat.
Tarp, you left Mark Perry off. What were you thinking? This isn't Miss Congeniality.
I would too. I believe mc donough is only ony as fresh and soph with clear 4 timer barring injuries.
Larry Quisel from Boise in OT. Wild to think he could have been an undefeated 3 timer.
Even crazier to think he lost 7 matches as a freshman in JC.
Yes. I'm also gonna factor in his Olympic gold.
Randy Lewis is one of my all time favs and was a gold medalist. Ironside a close 2nd.
CSB- When I was a kid I ran races against Chris Campbell at the Fieldhouse.
CSB- When I was a kid I ran races against Chris Campbell at the Fieldhouse.
Never read this, what an epic career. I would love to know how many youth wrestlers he trained made it into college wrestling?
Its hard not to vote Metcalf since he lost a year. Plus I feel like he was the catalyst for bringing Iowa back to the top. Same as Spencer did.
Lou Banach - won 2 NCAA titles by fall including one over Baumgartner. Won Olympic gold medal (made team over Baumgartner). Lou was also a small heavy weight in an era when weight was unlimited. Those who constantly complain about Ben Kueter’s weight should watch some Lou video. He took some losses but he went after it.
Remember Randy "Lewboo" Lewis made the NCAA finals as a true freshman. Due to the Brands/Va Tech-Iowa situation, Metcalf did not get to wrestle his full freshman season. Perhaps he would have only lost once, or maybe he would have picked up a couple more losses. He actually did lose 1 match as a true freshman, though it was by DQ in a tightly-contested match where he was struggling to score. Metcalf was always tough, but he definitely had a learning curve coming into college on his feet, and had a few little quirks to work out on the mat. Metcalf had a close 8-7 match as a true freshman against a kid from Maryland iirc. Nothing wrong with that, but I just point it out because Metcalf had a very offensive style where he was always trying to score points and physically overwhelm his opponent, so this result kind of indicates (at least one can interpret it that way) that he was not at that time the kind of wrestler that he would become a 1.5-2 years later. He was tough, yet beatable at this stage of his career.
I bring this up as a defense of Lewboo. He took 6 losses wrestling a full season as a true freshman in one of the toughest lightweight (126 and 134) eras in college history. It was every bit as tough, if not tougher than what Metcalf had to go through in his career. This gets lost with time, and recency bias works against Lewboo. In Lewboo's sophmore year, he went undefeated (36-0) and junior year he went 40-1, and won back-to-back NCAA titles. It was in Lewboo's senior year that he dislocated his elbow midseason against the great Jim Gibbons (whom he had beaten earlier that season) and that derailed the rest of his season though he was able to gut out a 7th at NCAAs. This is well-documented, ask some of the other boomers! Had that not happened, maybe he wins out and takes his 3rd NCAA title like he was projected to. Or maybe not. Some other things to consider: Randy Lewis won 74 matches in a row in college and had an unbeaten streak of 91 consecutive matches (had 1 draw vs. the great Darryl Burley- 4 time NCAA finalist and 2x champion, a wrestler he beat 4 times). He also made an Olympic team while in college. Lewboo's "hitlist" is a mile long. You'd likely be stunned by how many elite guys he's beaten, and he started beating them very early on in his career. They were both great, but I think I have to give the edge to Lewboo. He pretty much did every major thing Metcalf did, and a little more. I think the one thing that really gives Lewboo the edge is that he had an undefeated NCAA championship season, and Metcalf never quite achieved that. Undefeated championship seasons have historically been the gold standard. That is the only major strike against him (excluding the forfeited season), everything else between the two of them is more of a picking of knits.
Yes, I'm from the old school so I'll let you judge how much that is factoring into my assessment! Thanks for your time. : )
Was it Chris Cambell that Gable said was the best he ever coached? Or am I making that up?
Lou did not make the team at the expense of Baumgartnerthat was the beginning of an amazing run for big Bruce!!!
Lou was gold medalist at 100kg and Bruce Baumgartner won gold at 125kg.
Most naturally gifted, not necessarily the best iirc. Campbell was an absolute genetic freak. One of a kind.
If you’re having a hard time deciding whether you should vote for Randy Lewis, here are some facts to marinate on.
Randy Lewis wrestled 26 different men who placed in the top three in the world or Olympic competition and scored victories over 23 of them. He also beat 21 NCAA champions.
Randy Lewis wrestled 26 different men who placed in the top three in the world or Olympic competition and scored victories over 23 of them. He also beat 21 NCAA champions.